If you ask the average American how many entities they think are involved in designing a complex policy, they’ll likely say: “Many.” We at the Great Plains Institute (GPI) have found that to be true. To design policy to achieve multiple objectives, it’s critical to engage as many of the stakeholders that would be impacted by that legislation as early in the process as possible. That’s why, in our work to pass a clean transportation standard, we convene several coalitions, including the Midwestern Clean Fuels Policy Initiative, the Future Fuels Coalition, and, most recently, the Clean Fuel States Collaborative (CFSC). Clean transportation standards are also often referred to as clean fuels policies or low-carbon fuel standards.
What is the Clean Fuel States Collaborative, and what does it do?
Convened by GPI, the Center for the New Energy Economy, and the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program, the Clean Fuel States Collaborative is comprised of state agency staff from states at different stages of considering or implementing a clean transportation standard (CTS).
Members represent states ranging from early adopters of the policy, such as California and Oregon, to states where CTS bills have been introduced, such as Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan, and states looking to determine if a CTS is a good fit for their transportation decarbonization strategy, such as Wisconsin and Vermont. The members come together to discuss best practices and lessons learned from one another’s experiences and to glean knowledge from subject matter expert presentations lined up by GPI.
Past activity of the Clean Fuel States Collaborative
The collaborative has held three in-person convenings thus far. The first meeting was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the fall of 2021. With representatives from sixteen states in attendance, the two-day workshop focused on establishing the collaborative and building a shared understanding of clean transportation standards.
The second meeting, which drew representatives from 11 states, was held in Chicago, Illinois, in the summer of 2022. The participants spent two days digging deep into topics including climate-smart agriculture and the benefits of CTS policies to a variety of industries, such as sustainable aviation fuels and electrification.
In June 2023, representatives from ten member states met for the third in-person convening of the group in New York City. The meeting’s agenda emphasized environmental justice and featured discussions on the legal implications of CTS program design, federal funding for transportation decarbonization policies, and transportation decarbonization policy options.
In between in-person convenings, GPI has held webinars on topics of interest to the CFSC members, including federal funding opportunities in the Inflation Reduction Act, CFS funding mechanisms to support equity and promote clean fuel transition, the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model lifecycle accounting, and others.
Next steps for the Clean Fuel States Collaborative
GPI and its convening partners are currently planning the collaborative’s next workshop, which will be focused on bringing legislators together to increase their understanding of CTS programs and to introduce the policy as a viable transportation decarbonization option. The convening, set to be held in December in Colorado, will cover subjects such as gas price and gas tax impacts, how a CTS is complementary to electric vehicle adoption, the role of a CTS in rural economic development, and lifecycle assessments of emissions and land use change.
Head to the Great Plains Institute website for a 101 on Clean Transportation Standards and to track the policy’s implementation efforts in the Midwest. Subscribe to the Great Plains Institute’s monthly newsletter to stay up to date on Midwestern clean transportation policy efforts.
